Whether at home or at work, everyone encounters disagreements at one point or another. Conflicts in the workplace can come in a wide variety of forms, including commercial problems, employment issues, discrimination disputes, and much more. Fortunately, there are available resources that can provide mediation training services and lead to a more engaged culture, effectively keeping your company happy and running smoothly.
By using cutting-edge relational leadership techniques, businesses can handle and move on from all kinds of conflicts in the workplace; from two or more folks in a dispute (mediation) or a larger group moving through growth and transition (facilitation).
As detailed by a 2000 study on relational leadership, working relationships are “built through interpersonal exchanges in which parties to the relationship evaluate the ability, benevolence, and integrity of each other,” and the fruits of these exchanges serve as the basis for behavior. This is why at the heart of the mediation training process there is one pivotal goal: engaged culture dialogue.
Thankfully, individual employees have the capacity to overcome all kinds of personal and professional differences, leading to all kinds of positive breakthroughs and improved communication. An organization that emphasizes the importance of having engaged and respectful dialogue within its culture has a much better chance of success.
There are five components of the relational leadership model: inclusion, empowerment, purposefulness, ethical behaviors, and process orientation. Below is a breakdown of how each term relates to the communicative goal of mediation training:
- Inclusion: Engaged culture dialogue simply cannot occur without all parties feeling that their input is welcome. Listening to others and making it clear that you value their opinions are key tenets of good leadership.
- Empowerment: This component is an essential mechanism for improving inclusivity. Greater dissemination of information to all team members combined with frequent solicitation and affirmation of the ideas of others empowers everyone to express themselves. Fostering an environment in which more thoughts and feelings are shared each day is crucial to proper cooperation and conflict resolution. In other words: make sure everybody has the confidence to talk to each other! Fun team-building exercises and retreats can be great for this.
- Purposefulness: Everyone at work should feel that they have a reason for being there — no one wants a job that feels ambiguous and arbitrary. This is another element that is achieved through communication. Employees who engage in honest discussions about the goals and the vision of their workplace, as well as the overall culture, will feel better knowing why they do what they do, and how it fits within the whole operation.
- Ethical behaviors: No system of values can be agreed upon silently! Social responsibilities, standards of behavior, and the like must be discussed openly to ensure that ethics properly influence workplace behavior and decision-making.
- Process orientation: This component simply means that in order to practice effective relational leadership, you have to stick to the process. What does that process primarily involve? Talking to each other!
Not exactly sure what your next step should be? If you are in the area, visit Baltimore Mediation to learn more about growing as a business, overcoming personal obstacles, and improving your workplace culture. With everything from negotiation and dialogue coaching to help with contract disputes, you are certain to find whatever resolution services you may need.